Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic, has announced that he has received a cancer diagnosis from doctors at the hospital unit of a federal prison in Fort Worth.
In a post on Instagram, Exotic shared that a prostate biopsy came back with an aggressive cancer, and that he is still waiting on the results from other tests as well.
"What I need is the world to be my voice to be released," Exotic stated on social media.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Exotic, 57, is being held at the Fort Worth FMC, a medical center operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In April 2019, the former zoo owner was found guilty trying to hire someone to murder Carole Baskin, a prominent animal rights activist and the founder of Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary in Tampa, Florida.
He was convicted on Jan. 20, 2020 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for two counts of murder-for-hire, nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, and eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Exotic is the focus of the popular documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which was released on Netflix in March 2020.
Get updates on what's happening in North Texas to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
